I am a rookie in need of help at DVinfo.net

Tony Pimentel · March 24th, 2003, 10:00 PM

I recently purchased a gl2 and have starting filming for a skateboarding movie that i am putting together. I have a .3X fish eye lens by Raynox MX-3000PRO.
I am also using a uv filter outdoors made by crystal vision.
A IEEE card just generic

My questions and problems:

1. I plug my camera in by using the ieee cord and open Adobe Premiere 6.5. Go to Capture movie and start recording clips i can do the naming of files and such but not sure if i am in the right format or not for later making a dvd or vhs tape?

2. As i record clips after about 5 to 10 (clips) i will only see a black screen and have to turn on and off the camera before i can see something. Is this Right?

3. When i view this clip after, i see a blured line close to the top that is not there when i watch it on the tv straight of the camera. I am saving it in a avi/dv format am i doing this correct?
Is this blured image something you have heard of or seen?

4. At the opening of Adobe premiere it asks you some questions regarding PAL NSTC what is the correct size/format for the GL2 to DVD/VHS

These probably are retard questions but i am stumped don't want to cut and edit a bunch of stuff and have it in the wrong format.
Thanks
Any help or suggestions would help a lot right now

Ken Tanaka · March 24th, 2003, 11:22 PM

Hello Tony,
There are no "retard" questions here. We all started out from a zero-knowledge position.

I can offer some answers but others who use Premiere will have to offer software-specific answers.

The GL2 is an NTSC-format camera (29.97 frames/sec). (The PAL version is known as an XM2 - (25 frames/sec).)

The video capture process, bringing DV footage from the camera into your computer is unrelated to where you will ultimately send your final edited product (i.e DVD, VHS, etc.). Capture is capture.

I don't know about your "blurred" line.

Fred Beukema · March 25th, 2003, 03:43 AM

Is the blurred line right at the top of the frame? If so, it's probably some quirk of the capture that's outside the viewable area (the outer rim of the picture will be obscured when played to a TV or monitor, but on the raw footage in Adobe, you see all the edges).

Your format stuff all sounds fine. As Ken said, you'll want NTSC. When the thing comes up at the start of Premiere, you'll want to pick either 16:9 (widescreen) NTSC or 4:3 NTSC, depending on what mode you shot your footage in (television or movie-style). The "real-time preview" business is a choice between being able to see your transitions and stuff on the fly (a new feature in Premiere 6.5), or having to render to watch your fancier edits.

Finally, my guess for the camera going black is just that the powersave feature on your camera is turned on, and by the time you've captured 5 or 10 clips or whatever, time is up and the camera shuts itself down.

I hope this helps.
-Fred

Tom Hardwick · March 25th, 2003, 03:44 AM

Tony - it may be that you've got vignetting of the frame. Don't whatever yoiu do use the Raynox and the UV at the same time. Remove the UV, then fit the 0.3x Have the Steadyshot on and quickly pan with the camera. Does this introduce vignetting? If so, maybe better to switch out the OIS when you have this lens fitted.

Are you filming in auto focus? Even though you have oceans of depth-of-field, I'd still lock down the focus at about a metre to avoid the camera focusing on the imperfections on your front element.

There are no silly questions, only questions.

tom.

Tom Markos · March 25th, 2003, 07:43 AM

Hi Tom,

In reading your last post, my attention was drawn to your comment about focusing on the imperfections in the filter. I just received a Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/2 filter a couple days ago and first tried using it yesterday.
When I pan the GL (especially on a solid color or light solid color object) with the filter installed I notice a speckled haze of diffused dots. I understand these "dots" to be the component of the filter which produces the softer image but why are they so obvious?
Could it be because I was filming outdoors and sunlight was exaggerating the haze because of the intensity of the sun? Should I record in manual focus when using the filter? Thanks Tom.

Maryland Tom

Tom Hardwick · March 25th, 2003, 10:15 AM

Well, I'm one who says Auto is for the times when you have no time, and manual is for the times you want to do it properly.

If you were filming outdoors Tom, were you using auto exposure? Go back and replay the footage with the "display" turned on. What do you see on the readout when these speckles appeared? I bet it's something like AWB, 1/60, f11. If not, tell me what you see.

Remember that using f11 on a sunny day will take your DOF from here to infinity with ease, especially if you're using a focal length such as 4mm. As such you'll be getting the Promist into pretty good focus, and this is absolutely what you don't want.

Use the GL's ND and then some - go buy an ND8 to keep those aperture blades at f4. That way the filter will look at its best and the lens will be working at its best.

tom.

Tom Christensen · March 25th, 2003, 11:17 AM

I also have the same Premiere 'feature' and I too have to turn the cam off and restart Premiere after 5 or 10 clips. I haven't figured a way to overcome this yet. It's almost as if some max is reached in memory or open files or something like that. Very annoying. May be going to Vegas.

Tom Markos · March 25th, 2003, 08:01 PM

Thanks Tom. The advice/opinion you gave seems on target. And, BTW, those settings were, of course, as you suspected.
You have reinforced just what I thought the problem might be. On Thursday evening I will have an opportunity to try some experimenting during a full dress rehersal of a ballet I will be filming on the weekend. I plan on doing a good bit of manipulating just to see what the results might be.
I'll keep you posted. Thanks again,
Tom

Tom Hardwick · March 26th, 2003, 01:45 AM

That's interesting. If you were getting a readout (on replay) of 1/60th at f11 you can bet your boots that you were filming through a very much smaller aperture than that. Both my Sony and my Panasonic are able to film in the auto mode at apertures much smaller than those indicated. Why? Because if they didn't you'd get gross overexposure in sunlight.

Remember too that the display program is only approximate.
If you actually filmed at f8.2 the readout would say f8. So too if you filmed at 1/113th sec - the readout would display the nearest figure in its memory - 1/100th.

So if you go out with the shutter locked at 1/60th and ignore the call for the ND the camera will shoot away at f16 or f32 in an effort to control the exposure. It would only display f11 on replay, remember. These very small apertures in combination with your tiny chips give horrendous diffraction loses and DOF that extends from infinity to the inner surface of your front element.

Moral: Use a good soaking ND outdoors.

tom.

March 24th, 2003, 10:00 PM	#1
Tony Pimentel Tourist Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Newark CA Posts: 3	I am a rookie in need of help I recently purchased a gl2 and have starting filming for a skateboarding movie that i am putting together. I have a .3X fish eye lens by Raynox MX-3000PRO. I am also using a uv filter outdoors made by crystal vision. A IEEE card just generic My questions and problems: 1. I plug my camera in by using the ieee cord and open Adobe Premiere 6.5. Go to Capture movie and start recording clips i can do the naming of files and such but not sure if i am in the right format or not for later making a dvd or vhs tape? 2. As i record clips after about 5 to 10 (clips) i will only see a black screen and have to turn on and off the camera before i can see something. Is this Right? 3. When i view this clip after, i see a blured line close to the top that is not there when i watch it on the tv straight of the camera. I am saving it in a avi/dv format am i doing this correct? Is this blured image something you have heard of or seen? 4. At the opening of Adobe premiere it asks you some questions regarding PAL NSTC what is the correct size/format for the GL2 to DVD/VHS These probably are retard questions but i am stumped don't want to cut and edit a bunch of stuff and have it in the wrong format. Thanks Any help or suggestions would help a lot right now __________________ GOT A GL2?

March 24th, 2003, 11:22 PM	#2
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Hello Tony, There are no "retard" questions here. We all started out from a zero-knowledge position. I can offer some answers but others who use Premiere will have to offer software-specific answers. The GL2 is an NTSC-format camera (29.97 frames/sec). (The PAL version is known as an XM2 - (25 frames/sec).) The video capture process, bringing DV footage from the camera into your computer is unrelated to where you will ultimately send your final edited product (i.e DVD, VHS, etc.). Capture is capture. I don't know about your "blurred" line. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

March 25th, 2003, 03:43 AM	#3
Fred Beukema New Boot Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 6	Is the blurred line right at the top of the frame? If so, it's probably some quirk of the capture that's outside the viewable area (the outer rim of the picture will be obscured when played to a TV or monitor, but on the raw footage in Adobe, you see all the edges). Your format stuff all sounds fine. As Ken said, you'll want NTSC. When the thing comes up at the start of Premiere, you'll want to pick either 16:9 (widescreen) NTSC or 4:3 NTSC, depending on what mode you shot your footage in (television or movie-style). The "real-time preview" business is a choice between being able to see your transitions and stuff on the fly (a new feature in Premiere 6.5), or having to render to watch your fancier edits. Finally, my guess for the camera going black is just that the powersave feature on your camera is turned on, and by the time you've captured 5 or 10 clips or whatever, time is up and the camera shuts itself down. I hope this helps. -Fred

March 25th, 2003, 03:44 AM	#4
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Tony - it may be that you've got vignetting of the frame. Don't whatever yoiu do use the Raynox and the UV at the same time. Remove the UV, then fit the 0.3x Have the Steadyshot on and quickly pan with the camera. Does this introduce vignetting? If so, maybe better to switch out the OIS when you have this lens fitted. Are you filming in auto focus? Even though you have oceans of depth-of-field, I'd still lock down the focus at about a metre to avoid the camera focusing on the imperfections on your front element. There are no silly questions, only questions. tom.

March 25th, 2003, 07:43 AM	#5
Tom Markos Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fruitland, MD Posts: 41	Hi Tom, In reading your last post, my attention was drawn to your comment about focusing on the imperfections in the filter. I just received a Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/2 filter a couple days ago and first tried using it yesterday. When I pan the GL (especially on a solid color or light solid color object) with the filter installed I notice a speckled haze of diffused dots. I understand these "dots" to be the component of the filter which produces the softer image but why are they so obvious? Could it be because I was filming outdoors and sunlight was exaggerating the haze because of the intensity of the sun? Should I record in manual focus when using the filter? Thanks Tom. Maryland Tom

March 25th, 2003, 10:15 AM	#6
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Well, I'm one who says Auto is for the times when you have no time, and manual is for the times you want to do it properly. If you were filming outdoors Tom, were you using auto exposure? Go back and replay the footage with the "display" turned on. What do you see on the readout when these speckles appeared? I bet it's something like AWB, 1/60, f11. If not, tell me what you see. Remember that using f11 on a sunny day will take your DOF from here to infinity with ease, especially if you're using a focal length such as 4mm. As such you'll be getting the Promist into pretty good focus, and this is absolutely what you don't want. Use the GL's ND and then some - go buy an ND8 to keep those aperture blades at f4. That way the filter will look at its best and the lens will be working at its best. tom.

March 25th, 2003, 11:17 AM	#7
Tom Christensen Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cave Creek, AZ Posts: 87	I also have the same Premiere 'feature' and I too have to turn the cam off and restart Premiere after 5 or 10 clips. I haven't figured a way to overcome this yet. It's almost as if some max is reached in memory or open files or something like that. Very annoying. May be going to Vegas.

March 25th, 2003, 08:01 PM	#8
Tom Markos Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fruitland, MD Posts: 41	Thanks Tom. The advice/opinion you gave seems on target. And, BTW, those settings were, of course, as you suspected. You have reinforced just what I thought the problem might be. On Thursday evening I will have an opportunity to try some experimenting during a full dress rehersal of a ballet I will be filming on the weekend. I plan on doing a good bit of manipulating just to see what the results might be. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again, Tom

March 26th, 2003, 01:45 AM	#9
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	That's interesting. If you were getting a readout (on replay) of 1/60th at f11 you can bet your boots that you were filming through a very much smaller aperture than that. Both my Sony and my Panasonic are able to film in the auto mode at apertures much smaller than those indicated. Why? Because if they didn't you'd get gross overexposure in sunlight. Remember too that the display program is only approximate. If you actually filmed at f8.2 the readout would say f8. So too if you filmed at 1/113th sec - the readout would display the nearest figure in its memory - 1/100th. So if you go out with the shutter locked at 1/60th and ignore the call for the ND the camera will shoot away at f16 or f32 in an effort to control the exposure. It would only display f11 on replay, remember. These very small apertures in combination with your tiny chips give horrendous diffraction loses and DOF that extends from infinity to the inner surface of your front element. Moral: Use a good soaking ND outdoors. tom.